Surgery To Help Prevent Epileptic Seizures Gains More Support

Almost half of people with epilepsy who had surgery for the condition remained free of seizures 10 years later, according to a recent study published by the British medical journal, The Lancet. Researchers from University College London tracked 615 post-surgery epileptics annually over a period of eight years and found that 82 percent remained seizure-free for a year after surgery. After five years, this fell to 52 percent, while 47 percent were still seizure-free after 10 years. No patient experienced a substantial worsening of their epilepsy following surgery.

Several different types of surgical procedures are used to treat epilepsy, but the most common used in the study was temporal lobe surgery, which focuses on the part of the brain between the ear and the eye. The study suggests that surgery could be an effective treatment for epileptics who do not respond to medication. While many are calling for increased surgical intervention for epileptics, a large contingent still feel there is not enough evidence to advocate for wide-spread adoption.